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Glenn Greenwald
The real capabilities and behavior of the US surveillance state are almost entirely unknown to the American public because, like most things of significance done by the US government, it operates behind an impenetrable wall of secrecy. But a seemingly spontaneous admission this week by a former FBI counterterrorism agent provides a rather startling acknowledgment of just how vast and invasive these surveillance activities are.

Over the past couple days, cable news tabloid shows such as CNN's Out Front with Erin Burnett have been excitingly focused on the possible involvement in the Boston Marathon attack of Katherine Russell, the 24-year-old American widow of the deceased suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev. As part of their relentless stream of leaks uncritically disseminated by our Adversarial Press Corps, anonymous government officials are claiming that they are now focused on telephone calls between Russell and Tsarnaev that took place both before and after the attack to determine if she had prior knowledge of the plot or participated in any way.

On Wednesday night, Burnett interviewed Tim Clemente, a former FBI counterterrorism agent, about whether the FBI would be able to discover the contents of past telephone conversations between the two. He quite clearly insisted that they could:
Read More>http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...ded-fbi-boston

The difference between pigs and people is that when they tell you you're cured it isn't a good thing.

I am sure the government has the technical capability to listen in on or record every single phone call in the US, I doubt they have the manpower to review the huge amount of data that capacity would create.

I am sure the government has the technical capability to listen in on or record every single phone call in the US, I doubt they have the manpower to review the huge amount of data that capacity would create.

Believe me, they do! It's called super computers.

Given any set of data content, and simple search criteria, anything can be found on the Internet. Without the Internet, I did it with the Federal Reserve Kansas City Branch on an old IBM 360 and tape drives back in the early seventies for personal/business/pay checks passing through area street clearing banks!

With the information provided, I could tell you who wrote what check, to whomever, for what purpose, in what amount, when, and where. The purpose of the project was to help clear the clog of checks passing through the Federal Reserve system. Legitimate at the time, but who could tell to what purpose such capability would eventually be passed.

Don't underestimate the power we've allowed to accrue to the Federal government - or technology. Pay close attention to the likes of Microsoft and GOOGLE and others, and the information they can collect about individuals. Missouri has already passed on to the Federal government the NAMES of CCW permit holders in our state. Why?

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Four boxes keep us free: the soap box, the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box.